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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

We've said it before, but this is so important it bears repeating: You can't travel as much as we do without falling in love with the world. And when you see all the incredible beauty out there, you want to preserve it for generations to come. When we read about places like the Eastern Garbage Patch it breaks our heart.

The most effective way to cut down on trash, pollution and global warming gases is to cut down on your own personal consumption. Don't worry, we're not going to go all vegan on your ass and we're not about to tell you to cut out travel, but do take a look around your home and reconsider your lifestyle. Are there any ways you can cut back? Here are a few ideas to get you started. If everyone adopted one or two of these, we would be well on our way to a healthier globe:

2. Donate old clothes. Those glam dresses that you've had your photo taken in 1,000 times could make a great prom dress for a teen. Old suits, blouses, dresses and work shoes can go to Dress for Success. Nike collects old tennis shoes for its Reuse a Shoe program. It turns them into soft surfaces for playgrounds, basketball courts and tracks.

7. Consider buying carbon offsets to balance the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the air on your next plane flight. Basically, this is a $5-$25 donation to an environmental group which will use the money to plant a tree or install solar energy panels elsewhere in the world.

8. Drive a hybrid car. Don't have one? Enter the TotalBeauty.com sweepstakes to win one. All you have to do is review one product on TotalBeauty.com from now until June 5 and you're automatically entered. Oh, and did we mention that it's filled with awesome products from Origins, Sephora, Raw Natural Minerals and more? Even better--not one, not two, not even three--a grand total of SEVEN winners will be selected at random each day and win awesome things like gift certificates for those same products!